


One Millimeter

by DrPickle



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Dungeons Dungeons and More Dungeons, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, and a lot of ribbing, but mabel ends up a millimeter taller than dip after all, dungeons doesn't look like a word any more, i headcanon that things change, no angst we fluff like men, seriously there is nothing but fluff here, that's the whole story there ya go, you don't have to read it any more
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-10-06 22:43:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20514710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrPickle/pseuds/DrPickle
Summary: “Yup! Mabel’s got exactly one millimeter on you.”“Whoop! AL-PHA TWIN! AL-PHA TWIN!”Dipper folded his arms. “So? That doesn’t mean anything. We’ve always been the same height, I’ll catch up. Besides, no one even uses millimeters.”





	One Millimeter

A year later, Dipper and Mabel walked into a movie theater. If that sounds like the setup to some kind of sick joke, it’s because it was.

“I must say dear, I love your sweater. You’re so adorable,” said a little old lady on her way out, stopping to pinch Mabel’s cheeks.

Dipper raised an eyebrow. That did not look comfortable, but at least it wasn’t him. Mabel was all over uncomfortably personal conversations with old ladies, though.

“AAAHHH! Thank you! I knit it myself out of yeti hair!” she squealed, reaching out to pet the old lady’s sweater. “Yours is so fuzzy, is it merino?”

“Yes!” replied the old lady, smiling. “It’s so nice to meet another knitter.” She looked at Dipper, seeming to notice him for the first time. “Does your little brother knit too?”

Time stopped. Metaphorically. But oh, how Dipper wished it were literally so he could get out of this situation right now immediately because Mabel was looking at him and she had better not start this again and-

“PFF-.” Mabel put her hands over her mouth in a failed attempt to stifle her laughter. “He’s- he’s little- PFFHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-”

Clearly, Mabel wasn’t going to be able to form coherent sentences any time soon. Dipper spoke up, hoping against hope that his face wasn’t as red as it felt. “I don’t... knit.”

The little old lady patted his head. “Don’t worry, son, knitting is nothing to be ashamed of. Plenty of men are accomplished knitters. I’m sure your big sister could teach you a thing or two if you asked.”

“I’m not ashamed, it’s just not my thing! My uncle knits, actually. The thing is-”

But the little old lady cut him off before he could explain that he was not, in fact, Mabel’s little brother. “You poor dear, you don’t have to fib. Your face is as red as a tomato." She checked her watch. “It was lovely meeting such sweet youngsters, but I’ve got an appointment to get to. Enjoy your movie!”

And she took hold of her walker and slowly ambled away from the disaster she’d just caused.

Dipper facepalmed.

Mabel wheezed.

“C’mon, our movie’s starting.” Dipper started off, but his sister didn’t follow. “Mabel?”

Mabel was doubled over with laughter.

“Mabel.”

“Okay, okay, I’m just- hold on- BWAHAHAHAHA”

“MABEL.”

“I’m sorry, Dipper, really.” She laughed again.

“Really? I seriously doubt that.”

Mabel’s gasps turned into deep breaths as she tried to calm herself. “Really. I’m- I’m done now.”

“Good. Can we never mention this again?”

“Okayyy, fine.”

The two began heading towards the auditorium their movie was playing in.

“I just don’t get it.” Dipper broke the silence after about three seconds, gesturing wildly. “Why would she assume I’m the little brother? Girls get their biggest growth spurt before guys do, it’s basic science. I’ve done research on this.”

“Research? When? What happened to never mentioning this again?” Mabel snickered.

Dipper glanced at her, then back down at the floor. “Well, maybe I need to vent first. And I looked it up last year because I was curious, no other reason.”

“Mmhmm.”

“Don’t ‘mmhmm’ me. You’re not even that much taller.”

“Only two point zero six inches taller. I can use your head as an armrest.” She attempted to demonstrate, but Dipper batted her arm away.

“No you can’t, at least not without it being super awkward!”

“I know you don’t like it, Dip-dop, but someday you’re going to have to face the grim reality that I am the alpha twin, unless puberty does you some serious favors in the height department. I’m practically Godzilla! BLAAAAAGH!”

“You’re crazy.” 

“Yup!” Mabel grinned back at him. “Seriously though, I’ll stop teasing you now. It’s just so much fun.”

“Yeah, I know.”

  


* * *

  


Three years later, the twins were in the middle of their annual summer vacation in Gravity Falls. Mabel was on her stomach, draped over the front counter in the Mystery Shack gift shop, swinging her legs and scrolling through pictures of Waddles on her phone, and Dipper was chatting with Soos as he helped restock the shelves.

“Really? That’s great, dude!” Soos almost knocked a snow globe off the shelf in his excitement.

“Yep!” Dipper squared his shoulders, drawing himself up to his full height (which still wasn’t terribly impressive). “It was close, but I had a couple growth spurts, and now Mabel and I are finally the same height again.”

Mabel looked up from her phone. “What do I keep telling you? Everything is possible if you believe in yourself! Dipper was short because his bad attitude was dragging him down.”

“That’s... not how that works, Mabel.”

“Sure it is!” She rolled off the end of the counter, landing with a thump on the ground, then picked herself up and walked over to Soos and Dipper. “If it isn’t, then I dare you to explain why Soos is so tall.”

Soos rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “She’s got ya there, Dipper.”

“Anyway, we’re 16, so we should both be done growing now. Looks like we’ll always be the same height.” Dipper put his arm around Mabel’s shoulders.

“Now wait just a minute, dude.” Soos squinted at them thoughtfully.

“What?”

“What is it?” the twins asked, slightly worried.

Soos’s eyes widened. “One of you... is taller.”

“WHAT!? Ooh, is it me, please say it’s me!”

“That can’t be, we just measured!”

“Yup. Definitely taller.” Soos nodded.

“Now you’re just dragging it out!” Mabel shook her finger at him.

Dipper shut one eye and flinched as if Soos was about to smack him upside the head with the answer. “Who is it?”

“It’s... oh man, I forgot, lemme get a measuring tape.”

“GAH, SOOS!”

“C’MON, MAN!”

“Hold on, dudes, I’ll be right back.” Soos hurried across the room and disappeared through the “EMPLOYEES ONLY” door.

The twins waited in tense anticipation. Mabel bounced on the balls of her feet, and Dipper looked around for a pen to chew on, but decided he was better than that. Apparently he wasn’t, because thirty seconds later he found himself chewing on his jacket.

Soos burst back into the room. “GUYS!”

“WHAT!?”

“Oh man, you guys. I’m so sorry. I can’t find a measuring tape.”

“What’s wrong with the one on your belt?” asked Mabel.

Soos patted his belt frantically. His fingers touched the measuring tape, and he took it off. “Oh. Phew. Thought I’d lost ya there,” he told it.

The measuring tape didn’t reply.

Mabel and Dipper moved to stand back to back, and Soos carefully measured them. Then he re-measured just to be sure.

“Well, Mabel, it looks like Dipper’s got exactly one millimeter on you.”

“FINALLY!” Dipper shrieked. He looked at Soos and Mabel, who were on the verge of bursting into laughter. He coughed into his fist. “Um. I mean, okay. Nice.”

“Dippingsauce, that’s great! You finally did it. I’m so proud of my little brother.” Mabel hugged him aggressively.

“Owowow, watch the ribs! Can’t- breathe- SOOS-” The last word came out a bit strangled as Soos hugged both of them from behind.

“Good job, dude! This definitely deserves a group hug. Not like you need a reason for a group hug, hehe.”

Mabel adjusted herself to include Soos in the hug. “You said it.”

  


* * *

  


Six years later, Dipper, Mabel, Stan, and Ford sat squished around the tiny table in the cabin of the Stan o’ War II. They were playing poker, and unsurprisingly, Mabel was winning. Dipper was slightly suspicious that Stan was letting her, although there was no way to be sure since Mabel could play a pretty mean game of poker.

“AGH!” Stan threw down his hand on the table. “You’re counting cards. Little cheater.”

“I learned from the best,” Mabel grinned, scooping the chips toward her. “I believe I’m… what, two pounds of leprechaun gold richer than I was earlier tonight?”

Stan humphed and leaned back in his chair, but he was definitely trying to hide a smile. 

“I’m not even sure why I play this with you,” said Dipper. “You and Stan win every time.”

“Remember when you and Grunkle Ford tried to gang up on us?” Mabel giggled.

“Hah!” Stan laughed. “That was really somethin’. You had a whole big convoluted nerd plan, but neither of you can lie to save your life. It was hilarious.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised.” Ford replied. “I’m not proud of it, but lying has saved my life on more occasions than I can count.”

“Maybe if you’re lying to gullible space blobs. You’ve got nothin’ on professional liars like me and Mabel.”

“Come on, Grunkle Stan, I’m not a professional liar,” Mabel scolded him.

“Sorry, sweetie. Shrewd and adaptable.”

Mabel patted him. “That’s right.”

“All right, now that that’s over, who wants to play…” Dipper pulled a box out from under the table, “Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons: Urban Fantasy Edition!”

Ford’s eyes lit up, but Mabel and Stan groaned in unison.

“C’mon, guys, we’ve never played it this way before. In this version, you get to think about how fantasy races would work in a modern cultural setting. The game mechanics are different too. It’s more story based and less rule based. You guys’ll like it.”

“I’ve wanted to try my hand at this one for a while,” Ford said, already getting up to retrieve his dice. “The worldbuilding opportunities for this sort of scenario are fascinating.”

“What, like werewolves with office jobs? Where’s the fun in that?” grumbled Stan. “ ‘Grr, I’ve gotta file my paperwork before the full moon but I can’t ‘cause I rolled a one.’ Sounds dumb.”

Mabel pressed a finger against Stan’s lips and leaned forward. “Back up, Dipper. Less rules, more story? And werewolves in suits? I’m listening.”

“All right, it’s settled.” Dipper was already unpacking the box. “Do you want to use your characters from last time or create new ones?”

“New ones!” Mabel said, already preparing to draw out her character’s design. “I’ve been working on this one for a while. She’s a sparkly vampire named Cornelia who hides her identity from the from the world by being so bubbly and adorable and pink that nobody suspects her because of their preconceived notions and assumptions about what vampires should be like. She’s secretly dark and tortured on the inside because she wants to drink blood but she won’t. Chaotic Good, kicks serious butt.”

“I’m gonna use mine from last time,” said Stan. “He was good.”

Dipper opened up a folder marked “D.M.”, took out a sheet of paper, and handed it to Stan. “Stam the Human Who Punches Things?”

“Yeah.” Stan grinned. “Not gonna lie, I missed the old geezer.”

Ford pulled out his chair and sat back down. “I think I’ll make a new one as well.”

Dipper handed him a character sheet, and for a while, everyone sat in silence, getting everything ready.

Eventually, Stan got bored and looked over Ford’s shoulder at his sheet. “Randall Evans, Ghost- what kinda name is Randall, anyway? We s’posed to call him Randy the whole time?”

“It depends on whether our characters are on a first name basis or not, but even then, just Randall should be fine.”

Stan shook his head. “No one’ll take him seriously unless you give him a good strong name with some weight behind it.”

Ford raised an eyebrow at him. “Like Stam?”

“Exactly!” Stan went back to reading Ford’s sheet. “42 years old, businessman, 6’8”- hang on, why’s he so tall?”

“I thought the tall and lanky design served his spectral nature well,” Ford replied.

“He’s taller than my character, though. Stam is only 6’6”. Can’t you make Reginald or whatever shorter?”

“Why does it matter?”

“Because you’re not taller than me.”

“Stanley, these are characters. None of them are us, exactly, except for yours. And, besides, I am taller than you.”

“What?” Stan stood up. “I’ll take you on right now, old man, back to back. Dipper! Get a yardstick or somethin’.”

Dipper laid down his pen and got up. “Oh man, here we go…”

“Yes! A challenge! Take him on, Grunkle Ford!” Mabel cheered.

Ford stood up as well, and the two men moved to stand back to back in the middle of the cabin.

Mabel eyed them critically. “I hate to say it, Grunkle Stan, but Grunkle Ford does look just a tad taller.”

Dipper came back with a measuring tape. “Mabel, can you hold the end of this to the floor for me?”

Mabel bounced over, and together they measured the older twins.

“Yeah, I think Ford is- hang on, both of you stand up as straight as possible.” Dipper measured again. “That can’t be- Stan, are you standing on your tiptoes?”

“I can confirm that he absolutely is,” came Mabel’s voice from the floor. 

Stan grunted.

“Okay, now if both of you are ready…” Dipper measured one more time. “You’re exactly the same height.”

“What!?” Stan and Ford exclaimed at the same time.

“Yep.” Dipper retracted the measuring tape, and everyone went back to the table. “Stan just slouches.”

“We should get that checked out,” said Ford, “Bad posture can cause spinal issues, but it can also be a symptom of them.”

“My spine is great, thank you very much,” said Stan. “Hey, by the way, which one of you kids is taller?”

Dipper and Mabel looked at each other. “We’re the exact same height,” said Mabel.

“Yeah,” said Dipper. “We checked a couple years ago. Mabel was taller than me for the first year of high school, then it evened out, then I finally got a little bit taller than her. But last time we checked, we were exactly the same height again.”

Stan looked at Ford. “You thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?”

“Thomas Edison is overrated?”

Stan looked at him harder.

“Yes, of course, Stanley, I’ll hold the other end of the measuring tape for you,” Ford laughed.

“Great!” Stan clapped his hands together.

So everyone got up again, moved to the center of the room, and set up things for yet another measuring session. 

“That’s… darn cataracts, can’t see a thing.” Stan squinted at the tape. “Okay, looks like… I’M TALLER!” Stan shouted. The twins jumped. "HAH!"

“Ha ha,” Dipper deadpanned.

“Mabel, you’re standing on my hand,” said Ford.

Mabel hopped backwards. “Oops, sorry, Grunkle Ford!”

Ford stood up, shaking out his left hand. “So, Stanley? Who’s taller? They look the same to me.”

Stan put on his best showman voice. “Lady and gentlemen, drumroll please.”

The other three obligingly began thumping on the nearest hard surfaces.

“Da da da DAAAAA- It’s Mabel. Mabel’s taller.”

“Whoa-ho-ho-ho, what? You sure you didn’t measure funny, Grunkle Stan?” Mabel said.

“That doesn’t make sense. By how much?” asked Dipper.

“One millimeter.”

Of course. Of course fate would never truly be on Dipper’s side. He was too old to be embarrassed, or to let it get to his head; they were adults, after all, and a millimeter was so tiny and ultimately insignificant. But even so, he allowed himself a tiny resigned sigh.

Mabel was clearly thinking something similar, at least as far as the “being too old for it to matter” part. She looked like she was pleased, but trying not to show it. “Sorry, bro bro.”

Dipper smiled, holding out his fist. “Looks like you really are the alpha twin.”

“Alpha twin,” Mabel repeated, her face breaking into a huge grin. She gave him a fist bump. “Only by one millimeter, though.”

“Technically,” said Ford, “that only makes her taller than you in Canada.”

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this all in one sitting by accident, and I didn't proofread it, so please forgive any errors. XD Reviews wholeheartedly welcome, good, bad, or just to point out grammar mistakes that annoy you. Thanks for taking the time to read!
> 
> Edit: I went back over it and changed some very minor things. Hopefully it flows a little better now. The above comment still stands.


End file.
